Breakout star Danica
Patrick led a Rahal Letterman
Racing 1-2-3 sweep of qualifying
Saturday for the Argent Mortgage
Indy 300, claiming her first
Indy Racing League IndyCar
Series pole position, with
teammates Buddy Rice and
Vitor Meira starting second
and third, respectively.

Rice won last year’s
race here at Kansas Speedway
for team and race-sponsor
Argent, with teammate
Meira just five-thousandths
of a second behind in
a photo finish. Now expanded
to a three-car operation
with the addition of Patrick,
the team proved it had
lost none of its prowess
on the IRL's super speedways
[tracks 1.5 miles and
larger] making Patrick
the second female driver
in IndyCar history to
qualify on pole.Former
IRL driver Sarah Fisher
qualified on the pole
at Kentucky Speedway in
2002.

Sunday’s 200-lap
race, the eighth round
in the 17-race IRL season,
begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT
with live television coverage
on ESPN.

Danica
Patrick (#16 Argent/Pioneer
Rahal Letterman Racing Honda)
pole qualifier, her first
IndyCar pole, Honda’s
fourth pole of 2005:
“We did our homework in the morning practice – all three of us – and you can see the result [Rahal Letterman drivers qualifying 1-2-3].
The car was slightly better in qualifying than in practice, and that’s what you shoot for. As a team, we’re very
strong on the ‘big’ tracks, and we proved that again today. It feels very satisfying to have my first pole.
I’m very proud of the entire team, and how hard they’ve worked this weekend, and all season long.”